Other News

Jul 30, 2009
A poisonous extract of Cassava root is expected to produce 1% of the ethanol used in Venezuela. Cassava root, or yuca, is the third largest source of carbohydrates for human food in the world. It is processed into casabes, or flat breads. However, this leaves behind a residue called yare, which, owing to its high cyanide content, is highly toxic to humans and animals. Now a team of Venezuelan…
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Jul 30, 2009
Crimson Renewable Energy, operator of California’s largest biodiesel plant which opened on 29 July, is doing what few producers in the nation are. The 30 million gallon a year producer will move away from the nation’s predominant choice of feedstock, soyabean, and process 50 million pounds of the crude glycerine by-product, turning it into high quality refined glycerine to tap into…
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Jul 30, 2009
Hot on the heels of its launch of Butamax earlier this month BP is further strengthening its biofuels efforts with the inception of a joint venture company with Verenium, Vercipia Biofuels. While Butamax will focus R&D resources on biobutanol, Vercipia Biofuels will continue to develop one of the US’ first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facilities, located in Highlands County,…
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Jul 29, 2009
Irish green energy specialist Greenfield Project Management plans to produce bioethanol from sugar beets grown in Chernobyl soil too radioactive for food crops. Despite official warnings, many local people continue to grow food in the soil around the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster. The radiation concentrates into roots and stalks which, after harvesting, are ploughed back into the soil,…
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Jul 29, 2009
All seven bioethanol plants US oil refiner Valero purchased on the bankruptcy of VeraSun are now running at capacity and making a profit. Valero bought the plants in March after VeraSun Energy was bankrupted by contracts locking the producer into paying above market price for corn. Four of the plants remained operating throughout the bankruptcy. Two were restarted by Valero. The seventh, a…
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Jul 29, 2009
Massachusetts-based startup Joule Biotechnologies has unveiled a revolutionary new process for converting carbon dioxide and sunlight to transportation fuel without the use of biomass. The company’s patent-pending so-called Helioculture process utilises genetically-engineered photosynthetic organisms: it requires no agricultural land or fresh water and is capable of producing more than…
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Jul 29, 2009
Stockholders in Nevada's Panda Ethanol have voted to approve a voluntary dissolution and plan of liquidation. After payment of all outstanding claims to the company’s creditors, preference shareholders will receive up to $2.5 million (€1.4 million) in funds and assets, together with any unpaid dividends. Panda does not believe any funds or assets will remain for distribution to…
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Jul 28, 2009
Pakistan’s 27 million acres of saline land provide an ideal medium to cultivate algae for biofuel production, according to Ehsan Ali of Mie University of Japan. Various organisations are already aiming to produce biofuel from jatropha and castor oil cultivated in Pakistan, but the use of algae as a feedstock would have numerous benefits for the country, Ali said in a recent seminar. In…
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Jul 28, 2009
US-based Aston Renewable Resources has signed a deal with French nuclear power expert Areva to contribute €100 million to the development of biomass plants across India. Astonfield will contribute about €60 million to the project, which is rumoured to include 10 planned biomass facilities with a capacity of about 10MW each. Construction of the first facility in West Bengal state is…
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Jul 28, 2009
The global biofuels market is set to grow by an average of 12.3% a year between 2007 and 2017, according to a report by industry research specialists RNCOS. Global ethanol and biodiesel production will grow at 6.04% and 5% a year respectively between 2008 and 2019. In the near future, the increase in biofuel production will largely be driven by ethanol from Brazil and the US, which pledged to…
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Jul 27, 2009
Colorado-based cellulosic ethanol specialist ZeaChem is on track to achieve yields of over 2,000 gallons per acre per year at a demonstration plant under construction in Boardman, Oregon, US. This yield is comparable with algae, but with fewer technical challenges to surmount. By contrast, the highest attained yields of ethanol from corn are about 450 gallons per acre per year. The…
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Jul 27, 2009
The US Department of Energy (DoE) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) are together planning to award $6.3 million (€4.4 million) in research grants towards the development of second-generation feedstocks for conversion to bioethanol. The joint programme will award seven grants, initially for a maximum of three years. Energy secretary Steven Chu recently highlighted the benefits of…
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Jul 27, 2009
The world market for biofuels is set to rise from $100 billion (€70 billion) to over $280 billion by 2022, according to a report by the Pike Institute. The report predicts that the increasing number of countries introducing biofuel consumption mandates and the higher production capacity from improved second-generation feedstocks will drive a worldwide annual growth rate of 15% between 2009…
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Jul 27, 2009
Italian biodiesel producers currently producing from food crops are working together to substitute seaweed for first-generation feedstocks. The eight companies involved in the €10 million scheme currently produce diesel from crops like corn and rapeseed. They hope to be able to produce fuel from seaweed commercially within five years. ‘The initiative aims to substitute or integrate the raw…
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Jul 24, 2009
A parliamentary motion has been tabled urging the British Government to review its proposal to remove the tax incentive on biofuels. At present, biodiesel is taxed at £0.20 (€0.23) per litre less than fossil diesel. The government proposes to remove this incentive in 2010, instead fining oil companies whose fuel contains less than 5% biodiesel, generating revenue for the exchequer on two…
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